


The Lover's List

by Ohmyfandoms31



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Reylo - Freeform, Strangers to Lovers, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:34:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22727704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohmyfandoms31/pseuds/Ohmyfandoms31
Summary: “A list hu? Is that what was on the paper you were looking at?” she nods, no longer looking at him, but looking for the bartender as she holds up the empty glass. “Do you mind if I take a look at it.”“Be my guest,” she says as she slides the list over, and starts to ask for a refill of her drink.He unfolds the paper. Written in small, scratchy writing is a numbered list, ten items in all. He reads them to himself one by one.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 21
Kudos: 71





	1. The List

**Author's Note:**

> After years of being in the fandom and starting several fic, this is a fun idea that I just couldn't get out of my head. 
> 
> My Valentines Day gift to the Reylos.
> 
> Updated 2/23/19, now beta'ed! Thank you to my wonderful beta reader @nancylovesreylo. 
> 
> fic inspired by the prompt from Reylo_promts on twiter. 
> 
> Curious Cat Prompt: "Rey is dumped by her boyfriend on Valentine’s Days Eve. Sad and broken-hearted, she gets drunk in a bar and meets Ben Solo. She tells him that her Valentine’s day surprise was a list of 10 romantic things to do with her boyfriend... ...drunk Ben thinks it’s a good idea to help her complete the list. (Bonus for fluffy things like midnight picnic under the stars, kiss in the highest possible place in the city, etc).

Ben knew he was staring, rude though it was. But the girl at the end of the bar who had been slowly sipping at her drink for about 20 minutes was more interesting than anything else in the room. He had come down here after a particularly bad day at work and he just wanted to relax. Surprisingly, drinking hadn't been his goal. The bar hosted a weekly trivia night and Ben was constantly chasing the high of his high school quiz bowl days. He had noticed her not long after he sat down and ordered his beer. 

The first thing he noticed was the very distracting way she played with her cocktail straw. In between her drinks she would chew on the straw, trace her lips with it and then slowly bring it back down to her drink. The longer he looked at her, the more he noticed that she seemed on the verge of tears. Anytime it looked like one was actually going to fall, she would lean forward and take a sip of her drink. He also noticed that the tears seemed to pop up when she would unfold a small sheet of lined paper. As sad as she looked, she was also quite cute. Her chestnut hair was pulled back into a bun, one that looped rather than twisted. He could barely make out the faint trace of freckles along her nose. Her lips, little pale pink cupid bows, drew most of his attention. He found himself wondering if they were as soft as they looked, but more so, what they world look like drawn up in a smile. 

He had mindlessly downed 3 beers while watching the girl... _ no, _ he corrected himself, _ woman. _ The liquid courage was starting to work its magic. The trivia game was going to start in a few minutes and he wondered if she would entertain the idea of teaming up with him. He normally did pretty well by himself, retainer of useless knowledge that he was, but he could actually win with a little help. Taking a final swig from the bottle, he slid off his bar stool and slowly walked over and took a seat next to her.

He let out a deep sigh.  _ Step one complete,  _ he thought to himself. He wasn't sure what to do next. He wasn't exactly well versed in picking girls up in bars. To be honest he wasn't very good at talking to people in general. But there was something about this girl, this straw chewing, slow sip taking, note playing with girl, that he felt drawn to.

He fidgets with the peeling on his beer bottle trying to think of a good way to just say "hi." In a stroke of genius or desperation, Ben's not quite sure which, he pulls out his phone and opens Google. _"Good pickup lines"_ — he cringes as soon as he hits enter, and the results are abysmal. Mostly jokes, and not even good ones. And he doesn't really want to "pick her up,” just break the ice. He grunts and actually hits the phone against his head when he realizes that's probably a better search term. The results this time are much better as he scrolls through the list of introductions. 

"Oh, number 10 looks like a good one," says a soft, feminine voice with a British accent to his left, where the girl was sitting. Ben feels his grip tighten around his phone. He doesn't want to look up, knowing he must be turning deeper shades of red if the heat rising in his cheeks is any indication. So instead he focuses his eyes on number 10. The voice is right (he doesn't want to assign it to a person just yet), it is a fairly good icebreaker, funny but not terribly cheesy, and pretty platonic. 

"At the very start," Ben reads from the list, trying to steady his nerves, "let me say that we both have something in common. You don't know what I'm going to say, and neither do I."

He hears a small giggle and he can't help himself now as he finally turns his head to look in her direction again. Her lips are open, revealing a big toothy grin. The smile reaches her eyes, which are blissfully free of tears now. It's infectious in a way that makes Ben feel his cheeks pull back into a small smile as well.

"See, I told you it was a good one. Great delivery by the way." She brings her drink to her lips.

"Thanks for the assist. I um...don't normally meet people..." His brain stalls for a moment thinking of the best way to finish that sentence, maybe for just a beat too long as she notches an eyebrow at him. "In bars. I don't normally meet people in bars." He runs a hand through his hair, nervous, because of course he is. He's bad at social interactions on a good day, much less three beers in and talking to a gorgeous woman. 

She smiles at him again, warmly, and some of those nerves melt away at the sight of it. 

"I don't either, and honestly the plan wasn't to be here alone, but it was either this or stay stuck back at the Airbnb."

Ok, she had his attention before, but now she had his curiosity.

"Airbnb? You're from out of town? Why would you be stuck there?" he asked, the questions falling quickly. "Sorry, you don't have to answer it all at once."

A small sigh passes her lips and he has a feeling it's not really to do with him. "It's fine. It's actually kinda a long story, but the gist of it is that I had planned this romantic weekend getaway with my boyfriend for Valentine's day, only he dumped me last week. The Airbnb was non-refundable, and I already had the days off work. So I decided to be sad and lonely here, instead of sad and lonely at home."

"Wow." That was honestly the shittiest thing he had heard in awhile. “Who dumps someone right before Valentine’s day, especially since you all had a trip planned.”

He notices that she winces before she starts, “Actually, this was going to be a surprise. We only live right out of the city. I’m from Jakku and he's from Yavin, so Naboo was always a pretty good middle ground to meet up at. Normally we just part ways after a date, but I was going to surprise him with the Airbnb after this,” she makes a gesture to the bar they are sitting at. “I had a whole list of things we would do tonight and tomorrow.” She sighs, taking another drink, finishing what was in the glass.

“A list, huh? Is that what was on the paper you were looking at?” She nods, no longer looking at him, but rather for the bartender as she holds up the empty glass. “Do you mind if I take a look at it?”

“Be my guest,” she says as she slides the list over, and starts to ask for a refill of her drink.

He unfolds the paper. Written in small, scratchy writing is a numbered list, ten items in all. He reads them to himself one by one.   
  


  1. Romantic getaway 
  2. Do some pub trivia
  3. Picnic under the stars
  4. Watch the Sunrise
  5. Recreate First Date
  6. Attend a Romantic Night at the Planetarium
  7. Make heart-shaped food
  8. Write love letters to each other
  9. Craft something together
  10. Pillow fort movie night



Every idea sounds so cute, and nice and sweet, and just...how is this girl real? How had someone let her go? He can already see she’s the kind of person that would go out of her to make someone else happy. Ben can’t really describe what the emotion is that he’s feeling, only the physical reaction that’s happening in his body. His stomach is doing flips and a heat fills his chest. It feels almost like anger, an emotion that Ben isn’t a stranger to. But what he’s feeling now isn’t the white-hot heat of hate that usually comes with anger. The heat feels like a warm fire, more warm than hot, almost comforting. He wants to do something for her, make her smile. Make her feel less alone. 

He looks up from the paper to see her chewing on the end of the straw again. He stares at her for a moment before her eyes meet his and the edges of her mouth curl up into another smile. 

“Let's do it.”

The words are out of his mouth before he really thinks it through. Ben wants to get to know her, soak up as much time with her as he can. 

“Do it?” she asks, screwing her face up in confusion, “What? The list?”

“Yeah, I’ll help you get through the list.” He folds up the paper and slides it back to her. “It looks like fun and you put a lot of planning into it. And I could use an excuse to take a sick day from work. So what do you say?”

She takes the folded piece of paper from him and turns it over in her hand, thinking it through. He can almost hear her thinking. Finally she slips the list into her pocket and turns to face him more fully. Ben’s not quite sure why, but he feels his throat go a little dry, realizing how badly he wants her to say yes. She holds out her hand to him.

“I’m Rey,” is all she says, but Ben feels like he has just been told the meaning of life. It's a yes, he knows it is, but it feels so much bigger. Slowly he reaches his hand out to take hers. Ben’s hand is larger than hers, but her grasp is strong as their palms slide together. 

“Ben,” he manages, his name coming out in more of a sigh. Her hand feels good in his, and they smile at each as they give each other a little shake. They let go of each other slowly, not breaking eye contact as they ease into a comfortable silence. They remain that way for a moment, until microphone feedback floods the bar. Ben swears and Rey laughs before a man's voice comes over the speaker.

“Good evening, folks! Thanks for joining us at Maz’s tonight for our weekly trivia night. I will be your game master tonight, Snap Wexley.” Ben looks up and over to the little raised platform that you could generously call a stage to see a portly man with a kind bearded face holding the mic in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. “Since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, all the questions tonight will be themed to the great loves and lovers” —his voice dips lower and he wiggles his eyebrows — “of history.”

Ben looks over to Rey, whose face seems to have fallen a bit, and he gives her a small smirk. “You know, not to brag or anything,” he says, shrugging his shoulders a bit, “but I did win first place in the state’s Quiz Bowl tournament my junior year of high school.”

Rey raises her eyebrow and nods to him, “Well then, look at you! I fully expect to win that prize!”

“It's a good one, that trophy is high-quality plastic, made from the finest carcinogens. Guaranteed to last at least ten thousand years in a landfill.”

“Your humor is about as dry as overcooked chicken. I like that.” Rey raises her glass and tips it in his direction before taking a drink. Snap comes over the loudspeaker again. 

“Go ahead and get your answer sheets from one of my assistants, Jannah or Kaydel, and think of a team name. We will begin shortly.”

“Do you have any good ideas for a team name? I’ve never really done this before, but it was suggested on loads of different lists for good date ideas.”

Ben rubs his neck, thinking of a name. “I mean, normally when I come to this I just play by myself, so I use a code name.”

“Ohhh,” she says, leaning forward, “What name do you use?”

“Something stupid I came up with as kid. Don’t laugh. It's Kylo Ren.”

“Kylo Ren,” Rey repeats back slowly, “Sounds like something a grumpy dark lord would call himself.”

Ben lets out a sound that is somewhere between a huff and a laugh. “I mean, that's not far off from what I was going for.”

“Well I do like it. But you aren’t a one man show tonight. What if we combined it? My name and your code name? What would that be…?” She takes the straw out of her mouth and traces it along her lips again, clearly deep in thought. Ben tries to focus on a loose chip of paint on the bar.

“OH!” Ben jerks up and looks at her. The big toothy grin has returned, and she is looking very pleased with herself. “Reylo! That's what we could call it. Its Rey and Kylo combined!” She waves one of the girls walking around with the answer sheets over. The dark-skinned, curly-haired girl comes over and hands them the paper and two pencils. She wishes them luck before walking away. Rey excitedly scribbles “Reylo” down in the space for team name. Moments later, Snap is back on the mic. 

“Alright everybody, it's time to get started. We have three rounds, with fifteen questions each, all with a Valentine's day flair. Let’s get it started with our first question:  on Valentine's Day 1876, who received a patent for what important invention?”

“OH wow, they are starting off hard,” Rey says in a low voice. “How are we supposed to know that?” But Ben doesn’t hear her. He’s racking his brain to try and remember what invention came out around that time. Then it hits him.

“It's the telephone,” he mutters as he reaches for the paper and scribbles it down along with the inventor, Bell.

“Oh wow… You are good at this,” she says in quiet awe. Ben allows himself a full grin. 

The three rounds seem to go by quickly, and they fall into a rhythm. Ben does know most of the answers, but there are a few where Rey either answers first or knows it when Ben is stumped. They laugh when they both reach for the pencil, both clearly very competitive. At the end, they listen and score their sheet as the correct answers are read aloud. In the end they only miss five and feel pretty good about their chances of taking home the trophy. They wait patiently as the assistants go through and collect the score sheets. Then Snap comes back to the mic.    
  
“OK and now for the top 5 teams,” he announces. “Coming in at number 5 we have the Drunken Wookiees, great name by the way, love Galaxy Wars. In 4th place we have... the Bad Batch. Coming in at number 3 is the Rebel Alliance. Good job guys, always good to see you guys here. Getting close guys, in 2nd place we have the Phantom Minutes. Here it is folks, the moment you all have been waiting for, the winner of Maz's Pub Trivia Challenge: Valentine's Day Edition is....”   
  


Ben feels Rey grab on to his arm and squeeze as Snap milks the dramatic pause. 

“Team Reylo!”   
  


Rey squeals when she hears their team name called and claps her hands together. Ben watches her celebrate, and when she again extends her hand out to Ben, he takes it and gives it a firm shake.

“Congratulations, partner,” he says.

“Couldn't have done it without you,” she replies. 

She doesn't let go of his hand. She tugs him up and takes him to the stage where Snap is waiting, little gold plastic trophy stretched out in his hands. Ray takes it from him, holding it over her head as the bar blasts Queen's “We Are the Champions.” As Rey soaks in their moment of glory, Ben goes back to the bar and closes out both their tabs. He turns when he feels a tapping on his shoulder. Rey is there, smiling broadly.   
  
Ben notices that she's bouncing on her heels, clearly excited. “Thank you for this, truly thank you,” she says hurriedly, like she's in a hurry to get it all out. “I haven't had this much fun in…. Well I can't even remember. I thought all I was going to do for the next 2 days was just cry and try not to feel too badly, but then you came and…” 

She pauses and takes a deep breath before beaming up at him, and Ben feels a little like he's been punched in the chest as he feels all the air leave his lungs.    
  
Rey continues, “Really, it's made all the difference in the world. And look, you don't have to help me finish the list. I get it.” She takes another deep breath and chews a little on her lip before she pushes on. “But I’d be really happy if you did.”    
  
Ben looks over at the lively, funny woman before him and he knows he would be the biggest idiot in the galaxy if he didn't at least take the chance to get to know her. 

“What's next on the list,” is all he says in response to her.    
  
She smiles at him and shoves the plastic trophy into his hands as she digs out the list. After unfolding it and looking it over she says, “Well, this is all for tonight. The next item is actually a picnic under the stars, breakfast if you will, for watching the sunrise.”    
  
Ben chuckles. “I'm used to getting up before the sun, when should I meet you and where?” 

She tears off the bottom piece of the paper and reaches for the pencil still sitting on the bar. Ben watches as she scribbles down an address and hands it to him “I'll meet you here bright and early at 6. The park is practically across the street. I'll have all the food and everything we need.” Ben runs a hand through his hair, feeling like he should offer to bring something. “Is there anything I could get for this?” he asks. “Maybe some coffee?”

She smirks up at him. “Caramel Macchiato for me. That would be wonderful, thank you.” 

“Right, got it. Well...until tomorrow then,” says Ben, feeling a tad bit awkward, not sure what to do with his hands. They hang at his side and he slowly clenches and unclenches them, trying to work out some of the nerves he is feeling. One of his hands grips the trophy they won, and he extends it back to her to take with her. “Don't forget the grand prize.”

She takes the trophy, her eyes shining just a little brighter. “Thank you, well, until the morning. Try and get some sleep ” She waves as she turns to leave, and Ben knows that if he’s able to get sleep at all, his dreams will be of nothing but her. 


	2. The Picnic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "She leans back and keeps her face turned to the sky. The blanket just barely fits both of them, with just the thinnest space between them. She lets her hands rest beside her and can almost feel the heat of him. Or maybe she is just imagining it. They lie there as the sky slowly starts to turn from a deep navy, with specks of white, to swatches of purple, pinks and oranges. Just as the pale yellow starts to streak through the sky, Ben’s voice pierces the quiet. "
> 
> Chapter two of the Lover's list. Ben meets Rey at a bar the day before Valentines day. He discovers that she has recently been broke up with up after planing a list of activities to do with her now ex. Heating to see all her hard work wasted, Ben offers to help he cross off every item on the list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to start by saying an HUGE thank you to all the support I have received from the 1st chapter. It has meant the world to me. 
> 
> This chapter was a lot of fun to write and I hope you enjoy reading it. 
> 
> Another huge thank you to my wonderful beta reader @nancylovesreylo

Rey is used to things going tits up. That's pretty much been the story of her life for as long as she can remember. So she is trying not to get too excited about the man she had just left at the bar.  _ Ben. _ He was about 6'4” and built like a house. He took up too much space, which was ironic because Rey could tell Ben just wanted to blend into the crowd. Once she noticed him it was hard to pay attention to anything else. Rey looked down at the small plastic trophy in her hand as she replayed their meeting in her mind. 

She  _ felt _ him before she saw him — she could feel his eyes on her. Rey had tried to play it cool and not look at him, to let him know that she had seen him. When he finally came over, nervous energy radiated from him. She watched as he pulled the phone from his pocket, and took the opportunity to really get a look at him. For such a large man, there was something almost  _ pretty  _ about him. His hair was long with soft waves and looked very thick. His face was striking, with a sharp jawline and strong nose. But what really caught Rey’s eyes were his lips. She had never met a man whose lips she would describe as pillowy, yet that's the only word that seemed to fit. They looked soft and she found that she really wanted to find out if they were. 

She had glanced at his phone then and realized he was trying to talk to her, he was just kinda bad at it. Rey broke the ice herself and had one of the most enjoyable nights in a very long time. Considering that she had just gotten out of a four-month relationship, that was certainly saying something. She had been set up with Poe by her best friend Finn. He was always fun and friendly when they all hung out together. On dates, however, Poe seemed to only want to talk about things he was doing. He hardly checked in on her in between dates. It felt like going through the motions. 

This whole trip had been a last ditch effort on her part to try and make it work, to show him how much fun they could be together. Then just a few days ago Poe had called her and said he couldn’t make it this weekend on their date. That had started an argument, which wasn’t uncommon in their relationship. But she finally challenged him on the issues that had been nagging at her for awhile. Why did he never come to her? Why was  _ she _ never invited to stay overnight at his place? Why had they never, in four months, done more than kiss? Was he even interested in her at all? There had been a pause from his end after that. A soft “I’m not so sure” finally broke the silence. She hung up on him after that. Two hours later she sent him a text saying “Just to be clear, but whatever this was, is over.” And the bastard literally responded with “k”. 

Rey soon found herself in front of the building that her Airbnb was in. Walking in to the entranceway, she shook her head, clearing it of all thoughts of her ex. As she waited for the elevator, she ran a thumb over the trophy in her hand, smiling down at it. The ding letting her know the lift had arrived broke her out of her thoughts. The ride up was a quick one, so she tucked the trophy under her chin while she began to dig around for the keys in her purse. The apartment was the first one once you stepped out of the elevator. She slipped the key in and turned the knob. 

The apartment was nice, larger than the town house she shared with her roommate Rose. The kitchen and living room were one large room, separated by a bar. At the end of the room was a window overlooking the neighborhood of Theed. It was one of the older areas of Naboo, and Rey could see part of the lake in the large park at the neighborhood’s center. Off to the side was a bedroom with an en suite bathroom. It was the bedroom that called her now. She pulled out her phone to check the time, and as she did she saw that she had a text from Rose. 

_ Rose: Hey sunshine! Just checking in to see how you were doing. Hope you were able to get out and that you only ate half a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.  _

Rey smiled at the message. Rey had met Rose when she had been assigned to be her room in college. They had lived together ever since, and Rose was her best friend besides Finn. She tapped out a quick response. 

_ Rey: Hi Rosey-posey. Everything is good. Actually went out to a local pub. Won the trivia night with a guy I met at the bar. _

Rey changed into a large sleep shirt and shorts and snuggled down under the covers. She placed the little plastic trophy next to her on the bedside table. She plugged her phone into the charger and saw that Rose had responded to her.

_ Rose: A guy???? Is that really all you’re going to tell me? I’m hurt Rey, I need all the details.  _

_ Rey: There isn’t that much to tell. He was alone at the bar and asked if we wanted to be a team.  _

_ Rose: I’m still sensing that there is more to the story. Like, did you even get his number? _

_ Rey: No...but… I’m seeing him in the morning. _

_ Rose: Oh my GOD!! REY!!!! OK one, I’m extremely glad that you will not be all alone during this trip. But two, turn your location on and be prepared for mama bear texts all day. Deal? _

_ Rey: OK mom, I hear you. Location turned on and I’ll send you updates as I can. But I need to go, it's gonna be an early morning.  _

_ Rose: OK sweetie. Sweet dreams and good luck tomorrow.  _

Rey switched the phone off and placed it on the little table next to the bed. Her fingers brushed against the trophy, and she smiled to herself. It was proof that Ben wasn’t just some depression hallucination, but a real living, breathing person. She fell asleep thinking of his smile. 

***

The trilling sound of her alarm wakes her up. The room is still dark and Rey groans as she throws the covers off. She shuffles over to the closet where she had hung up her clothes. She picks out a flowy pink dress and pairs it with a denim jacket and her black converse. Rey is thankful that Naboo has a very mild winter, so a picnic before the sun isn’t out of the question. 

A picnic that she needs to pack for. Rey hurries to the kitchen, kicking herself for not running to the store last night. She pulls out her canvas shopping bag and places everything she had bought for herself for breakfast. She ends up with plain vanilla yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, and some granola bits. Parfait buffet it is. She packs two bowls and a handful of spoons and a butter knife. Rey looks around to see if there is anything else she could bring. Her eyes fall on the double chocolate muffins.  _ Perfect.  _ Into the bag they go. She grabs a throw from the bedroom and checks to make sure all her essentials are in her purse. In a flash, she’s out the door. 

She's more excited than she would ever admit. She can't help nervously tapping her foot on the ride down. Before she pushes open the door to the building, she takes a calming breath. She steps out into a hazy morning twilight. And there on the corner, with two coffees in hand, is Ben. 

His back is turned to her and she sneaks up behind and the thought of covering his eyes crosses her mind. But she had forgotten just how tall he is. Rey is not a short woman, but she doesn't think she could reach his head without standing on her tiptoes. The thought sends a shiver up her back. In the end, she loses her nerve and settles for a light tap on his shoulder. 

"Hello beautiful. I’ve been waiting all morning to see you.”

“I...wh-...What?”

Ben spins around so fast that Rey has to take a step back to avoid getting knocked down. At the expression on his face, she tries to suppress a laugh, but it comes tumbling out of her mouth. He looks even more confused when she starts pointing to the cups he’s holding. “The coffee,” she manages after a deep breath, “I was talking about the coffee. Sorry, it was a bad joke.” She shifts her weight as she tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He's staring at her. Rey is worried she’s offended him, when he lets out a soft chuckle. 

“Coffee, right,” he says extending one of the cups to her. “Caramel macchiato? Did I remember that right?”

She takes it from him, their fingers brushing as the cup changes owners. Rey takes a sharp breath before responding, “Yeah, that's correct.” They stand like that for a moment, just look at each other, both holding on to the cup. Ben is the first to break, pulling his hand back from the cup and running it through his hair. Rey feels an intense need to do the same. 

“Right well,” Rey says, taking a step back from him, “the spot I picked out is right over here. So let's get going.”

“Lead the way.”

***

“I hope you won’t get into too much trouble for taking a sick day for this.”

“I shouldn't. And if they wanna give me shit about it, let ‘em. To be honest, I’ve been thinking about leaving for awhile.”

“Oh,” Rey quirks an eyebrow at him as she takes a sip of her drink, “what line of work are you in exactly?” They had stayed quiet for a long while until they reached the path in the park. They quickly fell into easy small talk.

“I’m a financial advisor for Starkiller Industries,” he says with a bit of a shrug. 

“Oh, sounds fancy.” Rey smiles at him and wiggles her shoulders. He laughs. “Not really. It's a lot of me offering good advice just for others not to listen to it and then yell at me when the numbers are down.” Rey glances over at him and sees him working his jaw, his full lips pulled into a thin line. Before she can say anything, Ben shakes his head, continuing, “Anyway, what about you? What do you do?” 

“I work as a drafter for an architectural firm. I take pre-existing designs and modify them by client request.” She sneaks a glance at him, expecting to see him staring off in front of him. But her eyes meet his and he offers her a small smile which urges her on. “I want to design parks one day. Growing up, I didn’t have a yard to play in. So the park a few blocks away from the council house was this wonderful place I could go and just…be a kid.” She stops walking, and Ben draws up next to her. She turns to face him fully. “I want to design that for other kids. I want to be able to create a place for them to go and escape.”

He’s staring at her again, his mouth hanging open. “What,” Rey asks with a nervous laugh.   
  


Ben shakes his head. “It's nothing. That's...I mean… What you want to do, Rey...” He runs a hand through his hair again.  _ He does that a lot,  _ Rey observes to herself. He locks eyes with her before he elaborating, “What you want to do, is beautiful. Truly. I can't wait to visit one of your parks one day.”

Rey ducks her head, hoping to hide the blush she feels spreading on her cheeks. “Thank you. That's one of the reasons I put the picnic on my list. I just like spending time in parks. We are at the spot, by the way.” She points behind him before stepping around and leading the way. 

They climb up a little hill dotted with trees. As the ground levels off, the trees clear away to reveal an open field. Rey leads Ben to the center. She puts down the bag with food and places her coffee next to it. When she straightens up, she holds out the throw to him. “Help me with this?” 

Together they lay down the cloth on the ground and sit down on it, getting comfortable. Ben helps Rey empty the bag of all its contents. Rey explains that the spread was a little improvised. Ben doesn’t seem to mind as he digs in, making a little bowl of yogurt parfait. They eat in silence. Normally, too much quiet makes Rey uneasy. But this stillness is nice, comfortable even. She doesn’t feel the need to fill it with idle conversation. There is a peacefulness to it.

After she finishes scraping the last bit of yogurt from her bowl, she puts it down and picks up her phone, checking the time. “Sunrise should be in about 10 minutes. The plan is to lie back and watch the sky as it changes.”

She sees Ben’s spoon as it seems to still in mid-air before continuing to his mouth. Rey’s gaze lingers on him as he pulls the spoon out his mouth and sets his jaw. “That sounds...nice.” Those are the words that come out his mouth, but Rey thinks that his face looks more pained than anything, and she can’t really imagine why. Until she can. Maybe it's too intimate, the two of them lying side by side in the disappearing twilight. Maybe she’s being too forward. Maybe…

Her thoughts quiet as he gently places his bowl down at the foot of the blanket. She watches as he lies back, getting as comfortable as he can on the hard ground. He puts his hands behind his head and then looks in her direction. “Are you gonna join me?” He quirks an eyebrow at her. 

“Right, yeah.”

She leans back and keeps her face turned to the sky. The blanket just barely fits both of them, with just the thinnest space between them. She lets her hands rest beside her and can almost feel the heat of him. Or maybe she is just imagining it. They lie there as the sky slowly starts to turn from a deep navy, with specks of white, to swatches of purple, pinks and oranges. Just as the pale yellow starts to streak through the sky, Ben’s voice pierces the quiet. 

“When I was kid, my dad used to take me hiking. We’d have to get up early, sometimes leaving in the middle of the night to get to the trail. You’d wanna get on the trail before the heat of day. Before we started, we would always have some kind of little breakfast and watch the sun come up. That was before we had our falling out.”

Rey shifts her eyes over to him, not yet turning her head. His eyes are still on the sky. His lips are pulled back in that tight line again, and she notices a muscle twitch under his eye. He pulls his hands from under his head and rubs them over his face before dropping them to his side. She glances down, and his hand is just centimeters apart from hers. A twitch of her finger and she could touch him. Taking a breath, she does just that. She makes her pinky finger jump, brushing against his. She hears a little sharp intake of breath from him, but still doesn’t turn to look at him. 

“What happened? WIth you and your dad?” She wants to touch him again.

“I was a shitty little teen who thought I knew everything. I would get angry… have these meltdowns. They sent me away for awhile. It's… complicated.”

“You don’t have to talk about it. I know how messy families can be. My parents left me. Said they did it because they loved me but… How do you do that to someone you love? Just leave them all alone.” She can feel the tears, and tries to blink them away. This isn’t how she wanted the day to start. But here they are, and she feels like he, Ben, can understand her in a way.

“I was so alone.”

And then she feels it, the jump next to her finger, Ben’s pinky brushing hers, sliding over the top of hers. Before he can slip away, Rey hooks her finger on his. Their fingers intertwine, and she finally turns her head to look in his direction. When she does, her eyes meet his. His eyes are rimmed with red and look a little glossy. And she gasps a little because she realizes… he’s beautiful. She looks into his dark brown eyes, only… no, they’re not brown. They are a rich earthy color, honey swirling in and out. Rey thinks she could gaze into these eyes for the rest of her life. 

“You're not alone.”   
  


Her breath hitches as his words wash over her, and she feels a tear roll down her cheek as she looks at him. Something is changing in that moment. She isn’t sure what it is, doesn’t know the right words to describe it. Only that she thinks he feels it too. 

“Neither are you.”

She thinks he's leaning in, his body slowly rolling more to face her. The sun is coming up over the tree line and the light it casts surrounds him. It takes her breath away. She closes her eyes, waiting for him to close the distance. She can feel his breath on her now.  _ He’s so close,  _ she thinks. And it's the last thought she has…

Before the sprinklers turn on, drenching them both. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me too much for the sike out! There will be plenty smooching (and a little more) in latter chapters.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to share this. I've had so much fun writing and planing this fic. Come say hi on twitter @ohmyfandoms31


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